“Casablanca: easy to enter, but much harder to leave, especially if your name is on the Nazi’s most-wanted list. Atop that list is Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henried), whose only hope is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical American who sticks his neck out for no one… especially Victor’s wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the ex-lover who broke his heart. So when Ilsa offers herself in exchange for Laszlo’s safe transport out of the country, the bitter Rick must decide what’s more important – his own happiness or the countless lives that hang in the balance.”

“Casablanca” is rated PG for mild violence.

Mini-Review:
I recently admitted that I had never seen “The Godfather” trilogy. Well, it’s confession time again – I had never seen all of “Casablanca” before this DVD set arrived. Sure, I knew the basic plot, the familiar imagery, the parodies, and the quotable lines. But this was the first time I remembered actually sitting down and watching it all at once.

“Casablanca” remains an interesting snapshot of another time. It shows the unique Moroccan city, the period costumes, and the intriguing politics leading up to the U.S.’s involvement in WWII. Usually you see Nazis blazing through a city demanding whatever they wanted rather than simply leaning on the government of a neutral territory. The fact that Laszlo and Ilsa could hide out in the open rather than stay out of sight is a unique aspect of the plot.

“Casablanca” also offers up a unique cast of characters. Rick Blaine comes across as the original anti-hero. Underneath a selfish, uncaring exterior is a hero with a heart of gold. I think Indiana Jones and Han Solo owe a lot to old Rick. That being said, Humphrey Bogart’s performance comes across as a bit stiff in a modern context. But it’s easy to get over quickly. “Casablanca” is dated in a few other respects. They use the old ‘fuzzy cam’ any time Ingrid Bergman is shown on camera (especially notable in Blu-ray), some of the airplane effects are obviously toys on wires, and some of the matte paintings aren’t all that convincing. But there are a lot of other tricks that they use that still hold up today. For example, the plane to Lisbon was a cutout on a soundstage with midgets in front of it. Those little things along with the cinematography make it an impressive accomplishment.

As a fan of modern films, I have to admit that I was a little bored halfway through “Casablanca.” Despite this, I thought the overall story was interesting and I was impressed with what they were able to accomplish with limited resources and writing the script on the fly. If nothing else it’s fun to see where so many quotable lines originally came from. If you’re a movie buff or if you simply like “Casablanca,” then this would make a great Christmas gift for you.

The Blu-ray set comes with movie poster postcards, replicas of important production documents (like a memo renaming the film), a passport holder, and a book of photos. The bonus features on the DVD are a bit less impressive. There’s a 6 minute featurette interviewing Bogart and Bergman’s children, the Bugs Bunny cartoon ‘Carrotblanca’, and a few outtakes that have no sound. I was disappointed that there were no old interviews with Bogart or Bergman. On the positive side, there’s an interesting audio commentary by Roger Ebert (obviously done before his throat surgery) and a half hour documentary on the making of the film. It’s full of all sorts of interesting anecdotes and stories from the set.